Quantifying Circularity: tools and insights for fashion design for recycling

The reduction in carbon emissions achieved in this decade will be crucial to limiting climate change and the threat it causes to people and planet (Calvin et al., 2023). To contribute to a transition to net zero, the textile and fashion industry must urgently decouple itself from the use of virgin resources (Sadowski, Perkins and McGarvey, 2021). As put forward by WRAP’s Textiles 2030 roadmap, the use of recycled fibres is a key leverage point to reduce impacts including CO2 (WRAP, 2021). However, the textile-to-textile recycling system is currently fractured by the inadequate design of garments. Most garments on the market are not designed for recyclability, and even when they are, they are difficult to identify as such. To limit entropy in the form of material waste, it is therefore urgent that all new clothes should be designed for recycling and clearly labelled for efficient collection. McKinsey's Scaling Textile Recycling in Europe (McKinsey, 2022) report highlights that real collaboration is needed for the textiles value chain to reach the critical scale needed to provide sufficient feedstock for fibreto- fibre recycling technologies. Building on previous research providing ‘insights for designing with future garments with full recyclability in mind’ (Goldsworthy et al, 2019, p47, Hornbuckle et al, 2023, p11) the Quantifying Circularity project brings together partners from both sides of the garment circularity equation: brands and recyclers. The research is carried out by academic and industry go-betweens who bridge the divide between technical recyclers and creative brands. Importantly the project also brought environmental analysts into the process to apply LCA methods to better ‘understand the environmental impacts of design decisions’ (Goldsworthy et al., 2017, Goldsworthy and Ellams, 2019, Forst et al., 2023). The project aims to develop tools to facilitate the access to specific recycler parameters in the early stages of the design process. This paper will present the insights from developing and testing guidelines to support designers in embedding recyclability within each product of their collections. The guidelines were tested and refined through three workshops carried out with fashion and textiles brands across the UK. These collaborative sessions produced a range of garment concepts that offered solutions to current recyclability challenges. Across the wide range of brand type and size, some common challenges were identified. These issues highlight the need for a systemic approach to recyclability, one that addresses both the detailed scale of trims as well as shifting agendas and complex communications between stakeholders in the field.